User blog:Rena Charming/Miniview - "Operation Mongoose" (Season Finale)
Meh. I am going to have a hard time putting this to words, but it doesn't feel like a whole season of this show has gone by. And I don't mean this to say that I was left with so many lingering unanswered questions (although I am), or that the story didn't feel complete in a sense (it isn't), it's just... has it really been a whole season? Not only did it kinda fly by, it was just so... mediocre. Except it wasn't. I mean, on average I suppose it was, but looking back on the season it has just been such a wild rollercoaster of ups and down, every good episode almost always immediately followed by a bad or at least lackluster one. OUaT has never been GREAT, but it's never been this uneven either. The season did a fine job of keeping both of its rather distinctive halves tied together by several ongoing plotlines, characters and elements, but it still feels so oddly divided, and I think the problem with that is the overall lack of focus in the second half of the season. S3A and S3B were very focused and story-driven, the problem was that they had pretty much nothing tying them together. S4A was also quite focused with its Frozen storyline, but S4B was just a big fucking mess. Going into it, that was exactly what I expected when the Queens of Darkness were advertised, I just figured these three big new characters would pull so much focus not just from the core cast (now I'm wishing someone would indeed take their spotlight away) but from the original supporting characters I am actually invested in and actually wanna see more of. They did just that, but not enough to even allow themselves proper focus. Sure, Ursula and Cruella got satisfying send-offs, their stories were told in a way that leaves me appeased, but they still didn't get to do much and played no part in the last and most important episodes. And Maleficent? What the fuck? The Mistress of All Evil, the one character we've all kinda been waiting to see having a story for years now, was royally fucked over and even noticeably absent from the 2-part finale. I liked her story's resolution in 4.20, but in no way did I actually think that was it for her this season. This show is usually willing to match most of my expectations that it will disappoint me, but it also somehow manages to exceed those expectations, with things I don't even give much thought about. To me, it was a dead given that Mal would be in the finale, did not even consider otherwise. Lol? That being said, I shall eventually release a blog post detailing what I think worked, kinda worked and didn't work at all this season, and my hopes - along with my objective predictions - for season 5. Let's talk about the finale. First and foremost, whenever possible, I need someone to please (if they can) explain to me the logic behind this episode. What Rumplestiltskin wanted, it seems, is to make it so that villains got their happy endings. Why? Because he sees himself as a villain and wants to be happy. Simple and logical enough. But it seems that, because it is true that only heroes get happy endings, the villains need to be perceived as heroes, or rather actually become heroes, in order to be happy. That's it, right? So far I think I'm following the logic. But every story needs heroes AND villains, so if the bad guys have to become the good guys in order to be happy, then the good guys have to be the bad guys, hence the switcheroo we were exposed to. My question now becomes: who actually wins in that story? Isaac still peddled the tale as one in which villains get their happy endings. Maybe he means that to say that the traditional fairytale villains such as Rumplestiltskin (originally more of a baby-hungry tiny nuisance than an antagonist, but ok) are placed in positions of power, morality and happiness. But then, how does one explain Regina? By which I mean, she is not the Evil Queen in that story, Snow White is. So who is Regina? Do you guys catch my drift? The Evil Queen is often unnamed, Disney's character is apparently called Grimhilde or something, if someone were to buy the book and be presented with an alternative story in which Snow White is the villain, how would the author go about explaining that the Evil Queen is the hero even though she was never the Evil Queen to begin with? She's kinda just Regina, in the Snow White role. Am I making a confusing plot even more confusing? Do tell me if you've lost me. And if villains get their happy endings, does that mean Snow White, as the Evil Queen, wins in the end? Cos she's a villain in this story, and the fan we met at the book signing even wondered if Regina would get her happy ending in the sequel. Which, by the way, if there is to be a sequel, how would the story exactly end once the bells tolled? In that scenario, in that ending - Robin marrying Zelena -, Regina, the former Evil Queen - therefore, formerly a villain - doesn't get a happy ending. Neither does Snow White, cos she couldn't care less about the wedding. Robin wasn't villainized. And who the fuck is Zelena, mind you? Is she characterized in the book as the Wicked Witch of the West, or just some randomer? Do you understand what I'm asking? It's kinda like when I wondered what Cinderella even did to merit being in the fairytale book. Going into this arc, I thought what it was after was, basically, the villains getting what they wanted and the heroes simply losing, but everyone maintaining their roles. Like, Ursula marrying Prince Eric and Ariel being turned into a newt or whatever those tiny creatures in the movie were. But it seems the whole point of it all was to get the regulars to play dress-up in the finale, in each other's shoes? Now, you already know how I function, if I am entertained enough, I am willing to suspend my disbelief and my questioning. I even defended this episode before I watched it to someone on STV who argued that there would be no point to it because everything would be resolved by the end - I said, the point is: enjoy it while it lasts, don't worry so much about it having repercussions because it's supposed to be all about us having fun seeing these characters be someone they're usually not. But... well, it wasn't even all that fun. Kinda boring, and mostly confusing. Was Rumbelle's baby Neal? If not, what happened to Neal? Or Rolaomgidontcare. Why couldn't we see more fairytale characters in drag? The season 3 finale was such a whimsical fairytale extravaganza (I really love saying this), with Emma getting to witness pretty much everyone she knew from Storybrooke in olden timey garbs. This was a mediocre, short-lasting, pointless shtick. I have to give kudos to the "brilliant" idea of finally sending Henry off to the Enchanted Forest (long overdue) and putting him up front and center at least for half of the shindig, he came through big time and for the first time in forever I wanna give praise to Jared S. Gilmore - we have to remember he IS a young actor, growing into the role, let's cut him some slack. Patrick Fischler, however, can eat my shorts. Which brings me to Isaac. Wow. Just wow. I remember saying, about a week ago, that no matter how much I disliked Patrick Fischler in this role, I still wanted Isaac to be given some proper focus because I wanted to know what the character was all about, although not really at the same time. We got some measly flashbacks that were underwhelming, much like the rest of the episode, and then that justification for what he did at the end of part 2 - he had a lifetime of bad bosses (is that supposed to include the Sorcerer or something?) who apparently represented heroes. That is just so confusing to me. So, did he always see himself as a villain, is that it? Is it because he was kind of a loser in real life and his mentality was so affected by traditional fairytales in which the villains lost, so he thought he must be one because he can't catch a break? Cos that douchey TV salesman was hardly a hero in my book, and yet Isaac seemed to be so affected by his ego-crushing little speech. Like, get over it? You continually screwed with people's lives and left a kid to die at the hands of an ogre because someone once told you you didn't tell stories people wanted? Doesn't this almost make you happy they never bothered to give Tamara a proper backstory? No justification is better than a shitty justification, if this is the crap you can come up with, show, better to leave shit to my imagination. Tamara's nana was killed by a gypsy curse and she hates magic cos of that, ok? Ok. What else annoyed me about the episode? Hmmm... The writing was hardly brilliant, I really loathed both times a character pretended to be buying the heroes' talk, ever so transparently, only to quickly reveal they weren't having any of it. Regina did it with Henry, Snow did it with Emma. I also have to wonder wtf was Emma's reaction to waking up in chains, overact much? I honestly thought from the trailer that she was transforming into a dragon or something and was in pain because of it, but no, she was just fuh-reaking out because, despite being perfectly sane in the very next hour. I chalk that up to the episodes being shot separately and no one informing Jennifer Morrison that her character wasn't actually bananas. That being said, I do have to give praise to certain actors. Ginnifer Goodwin, I officially adore thee. I had long admired your adorkableness and ability to make us root for you, and the way you cry on cue and make it sound so raw, but now you got to do evil and do it well. Snow Dark was chilly, silently deadly, and so different from the pompous Queen Regina. I am glad the actors didn't try to mimick each other, because they would always be unfairly compared. Lana has played the Evil Queen to perfection over the course of four years, I was worried people would give Ginny a hard time for walking in her heels for once, but I don't think anyone will or can, and if they do they're stupid. However - and I give you all full permission to call me stupid for saying this, I'll understand - I wasn't impressed by Lana's take on bandit Snow. Colin O'Donoghue was great as the wimpy Hook, and Rebecca Mader was so amusing as the romantic impediment. But aren't we all kinda disappointed that, much like with the spell of Shattered Sight, which managed to not affect SO many characters, here we also didn't get to see a lot of our heroes villainized, like Robin or Belle? I know I am. It seems like all those two are ever meant to be is romantic partners. I enjoyed several moments of the story, none of which I would actually deem too high a point. Lily being a black guard was cute. Emma recognizing Henry almost brings tears to my eyes everytime I see it, and both temporary deaths we got were shocking, Doc's more than Hook's if we're honest. Still, there was something so satisfying about seeing Hook die at the hands of Prince Charming. Loved it. Another thing, does Henry entering the book and altering its story by interacting with the characters - same with Isaac - change the story, before everything goes back to normal? Like, imagine that nerdy Regina fan rereading the book, a story she already knows by heart; Regina's on the hunt, ready to assault a carriage, then she is distracted by a young boy named Henry. And the nerd wonders, "What, who the fuck is Henry, where did he come from? He wasn't in the story before." Know what I mean? Am I overthinking it? Am I allowed to? The third season finale... God, it was so seamless, wasn't it? They even made Regina turn the bridge trolls to bugs and step on one of them. It was so virtually flawless, I was in awe at how well that whole thing was written. This... moo. They did wrong. Season 4 was chock-full of questionable creative decisions that I will address in the next post, and this finale, a clear attempt at following in the footsteps of its predecessor, was a bust. Oh and Emma's the Dark One. Whatever. Rating the Episode: *''Flashback story'' - 3 out of 5 stars. By flashback story, I mean the book stuff we were treated to, the Enchanted Forest ordeal. It was more special than the average flashbacks, yes, but mostly disappointing given that it was a big finale. *''Present-day action'' - 3 out of 5 stars. Storybrooke didn't get to be a big part of this episode, but it was a way bigger part than in the previous finale, and it was all pretty moo as well. Rumple's situation confuses me, Boobs can save the Apprentice ONLY NOW cos yolo, August... why even? Belle was a bitch about Will and Isaac was just always annoying. *''Usage of cast'' - 3 out of 5 stars. Big points to seeing these actors having fun playing roles they don't usually get to, but the cast was poorly spread throughout both parts, Will was wasted as usual, and the guest star list was far, far below flashy. *''Writing'' - 3 out of 5 stars. It's just too confusing... too much of a head-scratching dumbfuckery that failed to live up to the epic hype that preceded it. Overall rating: 12/20. Am I being too hard? I have no doubt that this finale will grow on me, and that I will eventually enjoy rewatching it, but for now, fresh off of it, I am dissatisfied. Sadly so. Category:Blog posts